Apparatus for handling and cleaning seed-cotton



. (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. S. THOMAS, S. W. HARDWIOK & W. E. ELAM. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED COTTON.

No. 454,146. PatentedJune 16,1891.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. S. TH01V1AS.,'S. WQ HARDWICK & W. E. ELAM. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED GOTTON.

No. 454,146. Patented June 16,1891.

(N0 Modem 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R. S. THOMAS, S. W. HARDWIGK 811 W. E. ELAM. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED COTTON.

No. 454,146. Patented June 16, 1891.

(No Model.) I 4-Sheets8heet 4.

R. S; THOMAS, S. W; HARDWIOK & W. E. ELAM. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND GLEANING SEED COTTON.

No; 454,146. Patented June 16, 1891.

With edJs Ina/ante rs:

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' TKLZEZam, 26 gwwu 7w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT S. THOMAS, SAUNIE IV. HARDIVICK, AND WILLIAM E. ELAM, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED-COTTON.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,146, dated June 16, 1891. Application filed August 12, 1890. Serial No. 361,813- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: distance above these is a suitably-supported Be it known that We, ROBERT S. THOMAS, cotton-conveying tube E, in which an air- SAUNIE IV. HARDWIOK, and WILLIAM E. current is produced by an exhaust-fan F. ELAM, citizens of the United States, residing The fan is driven from the power-shaft O 5 at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of through ordinary speed-increasing devices,

Texas, have invented certain new and useful and from it leads a discharge-pipe F, pref- Improvementsin Apparatus for Handling and erably passing out of the building. The op- Oleaning Seed-Cotton; and we do declare the posite end of the tube passes out through the following to be a full, clear, and exact dewall A to take cotton from a wagon or other 1 scription of the invention, such as will ensource of supply.

able others skilled in the art to which it ap- For convenience the tube is made in secpertains to make and use the same, reference tions that are joined by any suitable detachbeinghad to the accompanying drawings, and able union, and that are each provided with to the letters and figures of reference marked an opening in the lower side and preferably 1 5 thereon, which form a part of this specificacurved upward over the opening. Revolutionble cotton-in tercepting screen-wheels G pro- This invention involves the use of a pneu ject from below into these openings, respectmatic tube, through which cotton is drawn by ively, where they fill the space between the an exhaust-current, for convenience of illustubes lateral walls, but obstruct onlyits lower 20 tration shown as induced by a fan. part, this construction being preferred with It further involves means for-screening and the last wheel, because the cotton projecting 7o removing from the tube atone orinore points from the pockets in rapid feeding meets less any desired fraction of the passing cotton frictional resistance. without interrupting the flow of the re- A casing II, forming a continuation of the 2 5 mainder, and also means whereby the amount tube-walls, extends downward, supporting the of cotton so subtracted from the tube at each wheel-shaft and inclosing the wheel. It is point may automatically vary with the needs open at the bottom, however, so that cotton of the gin to whichthe cotton from that point may pass freely from the wheel to the feeder is taken, and, further, means whereby cotton below. The wheels are slowly rotated by 0 passing in the tube and not required by any chain belts I I, actuated from the main shaft of the gins may be screened and automatically 0 through speed-reducing gearing J J, and returned to the tube near its origin to be are provided with peripheral pockets formed again offered to the gins at such time as the by the plane walls of the wheels and radial supply of fresh cotton may permit. partitions K between those walls. In each 3 5 It still further involves various details and wheel the partitions and one of the walls are combinations, as will hereinafter appear. solid or imperforate, but the other wall is of 8 5 In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva- Wire-cloth or otherwise of screen-like contion of the apparatus, certain parts being restruction'. moved to show internal construction. Fig. 2 The peripheral edges of the partitions are 40 is a plan of the same devices. Figs. 3,4, and provided with elastic flaps L, that press the 5 are detail views. 'Fig. 6 shows a slight curved wall of the casing upon one side of the modification in construction. Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, wheel as they pass over it, and that upon the 11, and 12 are detail views hereinafter deother side coact with like flaps L, fixed to the scribed. here more distant curved surface to exclude 5 In the drawings, A A represent the floor air that might otherwise pass around the and walls of a gin-house, and B B B" are Wheel and enter the tube. Thelength of the gins therein driven by bolts B (Shown becurved surface upon each side is greater than neath the fioor.) A the distance between successive partitions, and hence whether or not the wheel be in Upon the gins rest feeders D D, and at some motion the air is at alltimes excluded. From the construction it is evident that ifthe wheel rotates in the direction of the arrow such cotton as enters the pockets from the tube will be carried around with the wheel and will fall out when it reaches the openingin the lower side of the casing.

From a point alongside the screen portion of the wheel a pipe M passes laterally outward and returning enters the tube at a point beyond the casing and between it and the fan. The current through this pipe insures the prompt and certain filling of the pockets and removes dust that may enter with the cotton. lVithout this pipe the air-cushions and eddies 1n the pockets and the filling are consequently slow and irregular.

The chain belts I run upon sprocket-wheels N, loosely mounted upon the shafts N of the screen-wheels and engaging them only by the clutches N, which are without novelty. Each clutch is connected with the corresponding feeder below by devices whereby the accumulation of cotton 011 that feeder causes disengagement of the clutch, thus stopping the rotation of the cotton-delivering screenwheel. Each feeder bears a rock-shaft 0, upon which are rigidly fixed one or more boards P. These hang suspended in the feeder in position to be forced backward by the accumulation of cotton when the feeder receives it from the wheel above faster than the gin removes it.

From the shaft 0 projects a crank-arm O, and upon the side of the screen-wheel casin g is centrally pivoted a lever Q, whose upper end engages and operates the clutch. The free end of the crank-arm is connected by a link Q to the lower end of the lever. Through these devices the swinging of the board P by the pressure of cotton in the feeder disengages the clutch and the wheel stops. All the cotton in the tube E then passes on above the wheel to the next gin until by the continued action of the gin the cotton in the feeder is so far diminished that the board swings back to its normal position, and thus re-engages the clutch. The operation is therefore at all times automatic, the feeder taking from the tube so much, and so much only, of the passing cotton as itis intended it shall receive.

Evidently any number of gins can take cotton from the same tube, the apparatus described being duplicated; but as it is desirable that no cotton should pass to the fan the construction forthe last gin in the series must be modified. Here, then, we use a similar wheel, but make both sides of screen-cloth and carry the lateral pipes out upon each side instead of upon one only, as before. Upon that side of the wheel next the fan the top of the tube and the casing are made continuous, completely cutting off the direct passage of the current and forcing it through the wheel and the lateral tubes Y, whence it, with the dust, passes to the fan, as before. The entire amount of cotton that has not been removed by the preceding wheels is, however, arrested by the screens, and as the wheel rotates is dropped as in the former case. It may happen that this cotton is too great in amount to be taken by thislast gin. The casing is therefore extended to form a support or trough R for an endless-belt conveyor R, which is driven by a belt R from the screen-wheel shaft. One end of this conveyer lies alongside the path of the cotton falling from the wheel to the feeder, and the otherextends beyond the gin to a point above the end of an overflow-pipe E", which leads to a valved opening 20 into the tube E, near the opposite end of the apparatus, and through which the surplus cotton may be returned to the tube to be again offered to the gins. The conveyer runs continuously, but carries nothing ordinarily. Upon the opposite side of the path of the falling cotton is board S, fixed by its upper edge to a rock-shaft S, mounted on or in the side walls of the conveyer-trough, which project beyond the bottom. A rigid crankarm S" projects horizontally from this shaft, and its free end is connected by a rod T with the corresponding end of an arm 0 upon a rock-shaft O, mounted upon the feeder in the same manner and provided with dependent boards, as in the gin first described. Now when the pressure of the cotton in the feeder rocks the shaft 0 in the manner already described the depression of the arm 0 draws down the rod T and with it the arm S". This swings the board S obliquely across the path of the falling cotton and deflects the latter to the carrier, which deposits it at the mouth of the tube E". Vhen by the continued action of the gin the cotton in the feeder is so far reduced in amount as to permit the board P to swing back to place, the board S also swings back to its vertical position and the cotton falls as at first directly into the feeder, while the conveyor again runs idly.

Considering the apparatus as a whole it may be said that cotton is passed continuously through a pneumatic tube, that each of a series of gins takes from the tube so much as it needs and no more without interrupting the [low of the remainder, and that the surplus, it there be any after all the gins have been supplied, is placed in position to be returned to the tube when desired. The dust is thoroughly removed before the cotton reaches the gins, and the whole operation is entirely automatic.

It has been common to use a pneumatic tube and to remove the screened cotton therefrom to a different conveyor by which it was distributed to a series of gins. This apparatus dispenses with such second conveyer.

It is evident that any mechanic can readily vary the detail of our construction in many Ways without passing the proper limits of the invention, and we do not therefore wish to be confined to the precise forms shown and described. As an example of such variations we have added to the illustrations Fig. 6, which is a horizontal section of the tube and wheel with a modified arrangement of pipes. Both faces of the wheel are of wirecloth, and opposite them the sides of the tube are cutaway. vOne of the openings so formed leads into a tube X, which lies alongside the main tube and opens into it again at a point between the wheel and the fan. The other X opens into a tube that has besides this opening two others, one leading to the main tube between the wheel and the fan and the other upon the opposite side of the wheel. Through this latter tube a part of the current and cotton conveyed thereby passes at all times, and when the wheel is not in operation it may allow the passage of the entire current. Two hinged boards V V regulate the proportion of the current sent to the wheel and sent around it, and these boards may be varied in position by automatic devices connecting them with the feeder in a manner analogous to that already described in connection with the principal construction. The upper end of the lever Q, instead of engaging the clutch, as in'Fig. 3, engages the end of a sliding bar 21, pivotally attached to arms 22, secured to the pivots 23 of the boards V V, Fig. 6. So, too, the construction connecting the swinging boards with the clutch may be varied, and for use in certain situations may be simplified. In Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 some such changes are illustrated, the boards P being supported from the tube instead of from the feeder. The first four of these figures pertain to mounting the shaft 0 upon which the boards P are suspended upon the casing H below the shaft N. As shown, the shaft is mounted in bearings d, and from the shaft 0 extends a forked arm a, which engages the clutch upon the shaftN. The movable member e of the clutch slides upon the shaft, but is prevented from rotating thereon by a spline f. At one end it is provided with a tooth n to engage a similar tooth upon the fixed portion, and it has a circumferential groove to receive a half-ring 6, supported by pivots c in the fork a.

The boards P and the forked arm together form a shipping-lever, of which the shaft 0 is the pivot. In Fig. 11 the boards and arm are shown as united in one and the fulcrumpivot is placed above the shaft N. Fig. 12

' is a view similar to Fig. 8, but with the shaft 0 above the shaft N, where it is supported in the same manner as in that figure. In this case the forked arm is dependent, and, as illustrated, it is provided with two pivotallysuspended half-rings b to engage the clutch.

What we claim is- 1. The combination, with a cotton-conveyin g pneumatic tube, of a transversely-moving screen bearing devices obstructing a part only of the tube and adapted to remove laterally out of the tube the cotton intercepted by them.

2. The combination, with a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube, of a transversely-moving screen bearing devices obstructing a part only of the tube and adapted to remove laterally from the tube the cotton that they intercept, and a second transversely-moving screen bearing devices upon that side of the first toward which the current passes, obstructing the whole path of the air-current, and adapted to remove laterally from the tube all cotton that may pass the first screen.

8. The combination, with a cottonconveying pneumatic tube, of transverse rotary wheels, each. obstructing a part only of the tube and having peripheral pockets with a screen-wall upon one plane side of the wheel, a pipe leading from the tube at said screen side and returning to the tube at a point beyond the wheel, substantially as set forth, whereby a part of the passing cotton may be drawn into the pockets of the wheel and be removed from the tube by the wheels rotation.

t. The combination, with agin and a feeder thereon, of a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube provided with a cotton-removing screenwheel projecting into the tube and obstructing a part of it and adapted to remove laterally out of the tube and drop to the feeder the cotton intercepted, and devices whereby the pressure of the cot-ton accumulating in the feeder may temporarily arrest the motion of the wheel.

5. The combination, with a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube and a gin with a feeder thereon below the tube, of a screen-wheel adapted to transfer a part of the passing cotton from the tube to the feeder, means whereby the pressure of cotton in said feeder may govern the amount so transferred, a second gin and feeder thereon. below said tube, a second screen-wheel arranged to intercept and drop to the feeder last mentioned all cotton passing the first wheel, a conveyer adjacent to the path of the falling cotton, and mechanism whereby undue pressure in the feeder may divert the falling cotton to said conveyer, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with two gins, feeders thereon, and a cotton-conveying pneumatic tube above the feeders, of corresponding screen-wheels adapted to discharge cotton from the tube to the feeders, respectively, the first wheel being arranged to intercept part only of the passing cotton and the second to discharge all that passes the first, and mechanism whereby undue pressure in the first feeder may govern the discharge from the corresponding wheel.

7. The combination, with a gin, a feeder thereon, the rock-shaft upon thefeeder and the boards depending from the rock-shaft IOC into the feeder, of a e0tton-eonveying tube In testimonywhereofwe:tffixonrsignatures 10 above the feeder, the rotary wheel Working in presence of two witnesses. in the tube to remove cotton therefrom and drop it into said feeder, a clutch connecting R. THOMAS.

5 said wheel with the motive power, and the b. \V. HARD\VICK.

centrally-pivoted lever having one end eon- \V. E. ELAN. ueeted to an arm upon the rock-shaft and the Witnesses: other engaging said clutch, substantially as J. R. PIERCE,

set forth. BEN II. BROOKS. 

